I Sprayed It for the Culture. Now I Can't Stop Sniffing
I have seen this fragrance being talked about or referenced so much since I dipped myself into the world of perfume. So, I had to try it, but I was shocked to find out that this was released back in 1995 and was Kurkdjian's first creation. This is the perfume from the ’90s that’s still relevant to this day, just like my beloved Issey Miyake’s L’Eau d’Issey Pour Homme from 1994.
For context:
1) People associate this with a ‘daddy’ or old-man scent, since it was released decades ago. I, for one, have never been into the perfume world until recently, so I have no idea what the scent trends were back then. More importantly, I wouldn’t be affected by nostalgia.
2) The term 'barbershop scent' is a Western-centric concept, rooted in what Western or European barbershops traditionally smelled like. To me, especially in the Southeast Asia region, we have a different idea of what a 'barbershop scent' smells like. Spoiler alert, Le Male doesn't exude barbershop scent to me
Now that that’s out of the way, Le Male is my new favourite. It opens with a fresh, powdery scent and a clear cardamom note. My nose kind of went wonky at first because it had never experienced something powdery fresh yet spicy. It almost rejected it right away.
But once it settled down and my nose got familiar with it, I started to warm up to it. It then transitions into a clean scent, almost like ambroxan but not quite. Maybe it’s ISO E Super? It eventually settles into a warm vanilla base.
I didn’t get any old-guy scent from it or any barbershop vibe, but it is clean and mature without smelling synthetic. It’s powdery, spicy, and honestly kind of addictive to sniff.
Le Male may be nearly 30 years old but to my nose it still feels bold, clean and entirely relevant. I came in with no expectations or nostalgia and it still managed to win me over. Sometimes a scent does not need to follow trends. It just needs to catch you off guard in the best way.
